Xavier Basketball: 2019-20 keys for Musketeers road matchup against Villanova

3) Get a big game from Naji Marshall

Speaking of Naji Marshall, he has been the biggest individual key for Xavier this year. The Musketeers are at their best when their leading scorer is at his best.

Marshall has four games in which he has scored at least 20 points, all of which have resulted in victories for Xavier (that includes a 21-point performance in a win over UConn and a 31-point, eight-rebound performance against Cincinnati).

On the flip side, the Musketeers have struggled immensely when he doesn’t play well. He scored a season-low six points in Xavier’s loss to Florida and had an inefficient offensive performance (40 percent shooting) in their upset loss to Wake Forest.

Xavier does have a pretty balanced offensive attack – three players average over 13 points per game and three more average over seven – but there’s no doubting this team is at their most effective when they run things through the 6-7 junior.

Marshall missed Xavier’s last game against Western Carolina due to an illness, but he’s expected to be a full go for this game. If they’re going to upset Villanova, they’re going to need him to be at his best.